Restoration & Enlightenment

1660 AD – 1798 AD

Copyright 2012 - Peter S. Willis

Why “Restoration”?
 England hopes for a
prosperous and secure
time after its rocky
Civil War and demise
of a national church.
Restoration More Than a Name
 This time in English
history has many names.
None of the names
completely describes the
time period. But each
name describes a
particular aspect of the
time: Neoclassicism or
Augustan Age;
Restoration; English
Enlightenment; Age of
Reason; Age of Satire.
Restoration Society
 There’s a huge gap between the
wealthy and the poor.
 The wealthy waste money
while London children and the
impoverished die of poor
nutrition and health.
 Samuel Pepys’ secret diary
allows historians a means to
experience the inequities and
peculiarities of Restoration
England. Daniel DeFoe’s
Journal of a Plague Year
documents the year 1665,
which brought mass destruction
to England.
Deism, Age of Reason, and
Enlightenment Thinking
 Renewed interest in the
classical writers, such as
Aristotle, remind English
thinkers of the power of
the scientific method.
 Philosophers such as
Hume, popularize a
“faithless” religion called
Deism.
 The Enlightenment’s
reach stretched to politics
as well.
Creating a Social Order
 The Restoration was a
time to attempt order from
chaos.
 Samuel Johnson accepted
the challenge to construct
an English dictionary.
 Writers like Alexander
Pope and Jonathan Swift
revealed social inequities
and individual
peculiarities with a new,
witty satire.
The Growth of Novels
 Daniel DeFoe’s
adventure novel,
Robinson Crusoe,
popularized the
English novel. Henry
Fielding’s Tom Jones,
and Samuel
Richardson’s
Clarissa followed.
Odes & Elegies
 In poetry, the ode and the
elegy increase in
popularity. Odes are
formal tributes to an
honoured, absent subject.
Elegies are similar, yet
feature a tone of mourning
as they pay tribute
someone who has passed
on. Thomas Gray’s
“Elegy Written in a
Country Churchyard” is a
famous example from this
period.
Rebirth of Theatre
 Puritan disapproval of the
theatre diminishes in this
century and theatre becomes
another outlet for social
satire. Restoration comedies
addressed social issues like
manners. The works were
sophisticated in style and
mature in content.
 John Dryden’s “Essay of
Dramatic Poesy” brings
Shakespeare back into the
limelight.
Women Writers
 Aphra Behn published
poetry and short novels,
ensuring her place in
history as the first
seriously considered
female English writer.
 Lady Mary Montagu was
a well-travelled and
sophisticated poet.
 These two writers
demonstrated skill in what
was once a male-only
profession.
Where Does England Go Now?
 Like many artistic
movements, the pendulum
will swing far, and a
subsequent movement will
emerge that is opposite in
thinking.
 The interest in odes will
continue, but the late
1700s will bring about a
new ‘’Romantic’’ poetry –
focused on the individual,
not society, emotional in
impact yet simple.